content marketing Archives

6 Ways to Engage Champion “Blockers”

by William Walsh | Jul 26, 2022 | 2022

By Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 5 Minutes

The second of four part series on how to navigate decision making blockers.

Plot twist…in all of our research, we’ve never found Champion personalities to be true blockers. That said, they do exhibit two behavior traits making them appear as if they are blockers.

What is a Champion personality? A Champion is someone who is very driven and career oriented. They make things happen inside organizations. In the book, The Challenger Customer, Champions are referred to as a “Go-Getter Mobilizer” because of their willingness to champion and drive initiatives through the organization. If you’re using DISC segmentation they will be identified as Dominants.

You don’t have to read the book (although you should) or use a personality profiler to identify them. Just go to their LinkedIn page and look at how many different companies and roles they’ve had. If it averages 1 new position or company every year or two, you’ve got one. Champions are very ambitious and climb the corporate ladder quickly, or they will go elsewhere. \

For example, we just finished building an ABM program for a client and found the best example of a Champion we’ve ever seen. He’s been working for 22 years and has had 19 updates (new roles) to his LinkedIn page.

Champions are heads down doers.

Now for the downside, of all the buyers we’ll cover in this series, Champions are the most important to connect with because they drive the buying process. But, they are one of the hardest to engage. Because of their personality, they typically have a lot on their plates and are heads down on delivery.

As a result, you (or someone in the buying group) have to attract their attention by aligning whatever you’re selling against their immediate priorities (in their field of vision), which means you need to know them. Additionally, you have to connect your solution to one of their priorities (fit) and to them personally (motivation).

Here comes the second challenge, because of their career ambitions they are very savvy at reading the organization. If they sense a shift in priorities, or an opportunity to get a greater reward/recognition for another initiative they may drop you like a hot potato. About a third of the “no decision” sales opportunities we evaluated had a Champion shifting priorities.

The game plan for engaging and motivating Champions to stay in the buying process.

Research their background. I already mentioned what to check for on LinkedIn to identify them. Scan down their profiles and look for certifications and executive education posting. Note what content they are engaging with (Likes and Comments). Look at the groups they belong to and any volunteer experience. You are trying to get a 360 degree view of them as a person, not just a decision maker or budget holder.
Connect to them personally. Now that you’ve done your homework it’s time to use it. Of the four personality types we’ll cover, the Champion is the one most personally invested in your solution (and brand) and what it can do for them. Personalize your value proposition and DO NOT “BS” this buyer, they will read through it in a second.
Use relevant examples. Champions like to see themselves in your examples. When pitching them make sure to use case studies or use cases in their industry. Get as close to their situation as possible. Most importantly, connect the results to what it could mean for them professionally and personally.
Show them off. They are ambitious and looking to advance their career so help them. Feature them as speakers at industry or peer conferences. Highlight their success in case studies, articles and advertising.
Understand what motivates them. You’re in it for the long haul. If you typically have a buying process longer than a year, your Champion is critical for keeping it moving. They’re your advocate in the buying group, so arm them with the right information that motivates them to continue to fight for your solution.
Use other people in the buyer group to help sell them. Locate an “Influencer” in the organization and arm them with the information they’ll need to get the Champion excited. They love to “champion” (hence, the descriptor) other people’s ideas, especially Influencers who are “heads up” looking for something new and better.

Unlike Challengers, which skew towards being more male, Champions skew towards being female. Not only do they get things done, they often deliver more than what is expected, which is the reason they climb the ladder so quickly.

Speaking of getting things done, their boss (and the organization) knows they’re good at driving projects forward and over delivering. If the sales process seems to have slowed or stopped, it doesn’t necessarily mean the deal is dead.They may have been asked to take on special projects that are stalled or just a priority for the moment.

As a result, you may find that they may have high engagement early on and then drift off. Stay in contact with them. B2B buying cycles are long, often because of a shift in priorities. If Champions still find a win in your solution they will come back to it.

Finally, if they are successful using your solution or services they will take you with them as they advance to their next position or organization…and then they’ll be your Champion.

To read this first installment of the series, 6 Ways to Get Through and Around Challenger “Blockers” click here.

How To Productize Professional Services IP

by scott.gillum | May 11, 2021 | 2021, Business Trends

Productizing an organization’s intellectual property makes sense for many reasons. It can help build scale, improve valuations and create efficiencies. The challenge is to get the desired outcome it may require new skill sets, a change in culture and significant investment. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls and create a strategy for success from Eisha Tierney Armstrong, author of Productize in our latest podcast.

To hear Scott’s entire conversation with Eisha Tierney Armstrong, author of Productize about “How To Productize Professional Services IP”, listen or download here:

Want to convert that B2B sale? You’d better be aware of these 4 buyer personalities.

by scott.gillum | Mar 25, 2021 | 2021, Business Trends

As previously published on 3/22/21 in The Drum

by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 5 Minutes

B2B marketers are great at targeting customers, but often not so great at understanding the personal motivations behind each buyer. Carbon Design chief executive Scott Gillum explains what you need know about the four key B2B buying personalities.

We all have different personalities but for some reason when it comes to business marketing, we forget that point. We often treat a person as a specific role, say a chief executive officer, the same as any of their peers. A CEO is just a CEO, they all have the same needs, goals and interests.

It’s one of the reasons why our campaign performance suffers. Despite our best efforts, benchmark performance for all key metrics hasn’t moved in the last 20 years or more. If we look at our best performing campaigns that achieve double digits response, or click thru rates, our failure rate is still in the 80-90% range.

After a year of using AI-enabled personality profiling tools, we’ve now seen a common trend among customers, responders and quality leads, according to a recent study conducted by Carbon Design. The commonality: 70-75% of audiences are influence-able through the use of marketing activities, the rest are not, at least using marketing only.

In search of ‘sharers’ and ‘success-oriented’ personalities

Personality type reveals a buyers’ motivations and behavior. The good news is that there are two personality types consistently show up in our research that are active information seekers and they typically make up 65-70% of the audience. It skews higher in North America, and lower in Asian countries.

The first segment, the ’Sharer,’ actively seeks information to share with others. Sharers use a broad set of sources and, in particular, likes to leverage their network. They also like high level, big picture content that’s easy to share — think of short, animated videos and infographics. This segment brings new thinking and solutions into the organization and they can sell it to others.

The second segment, the ’Success-oriented’ person is looking for information that can help them, their team, or company improve performance. This person is a driver and if you can connect with them they will become an advocate for your brand or solution.

B2B marketing awoke to the need to infuse emotions into its messaging years ago and now we know that this personal connection resonates with this particular audience segment.

These are your marketing targets. They may or may not be decision makers or have a ’C-Level’ title, but one thing is certain, they are critical audiences for marketing messaging and performance.

Avoiding ‘Steady Eddies’ and battling the ‘challengers’

Now, let’s turn our attention to the two groups who are not targets. First up, are the ’safety-oriented’ individuals. These are your ’steady Eddies,’ and like nothing more than to stay within the status quo. They will take your content and use it to reinforce their current position. Marketing alone cannot dislodge them. That’s why you need to rely on an influencer, and/or others within the buying group to move them.

Last, but not least, are the ’challenge’ folks. They are motivated to deny or debate anything that is counter to their existing point of view. Happily labeled as skeptics, they engage late in the buying process and are often the last hurdle to overcome for a final decision. The upside is that once won over, they can become advocates but to win them you need a salesperson or an internal influencer.

Here’s the point, any one of these four personalities can be the CEO you’re targeting. But yet, we use one approach to develop content, and/or one way to engage them. Yes, they may have similar needs in the role, but they search and use information differently – and that is determined by their personality.

Until now marketing hasn’t had the ability to effectively read audiences. With sophisticated AI tools we can now customize content and approaches to attract certain types of prospects – the ones key to starting and advancing new opportunities. We can also improve lead nurturing activities by better understanding motivations, interest and connection with others within the buying group.

Finally, we have the opportunity to make a significant improvement in performance and satisfy audiences’ needs at the same time. Capturing this opportunity will require getting to know buyers, as not just a title or a role, but as a person. Because at the end of the process, a person is making a decision and that decision is personal.

How To Get A Better Return From ABM

by scott.gillum | Mar 9, 2021 | 2021, Business Trends

Today there are an abundance of solutions available for sales and marketing, yet sales productivity still lags. On average, an ABM program could be using up to 16 different platforms. Scott interviews Usman Sheikh, Founder & CEO of xiQ on their solution and how organizations can get a better return on their sales and marketing investments.

To hear Scott’s entire conversation with Usman Sheikh, Founder & CEO of xiQ about “How To Get A Better return From ABM”, listen or download here:

Brand Transformation

by scott.gillum | Feb 9, 2021 | 2021, Business Trends

With all of the changes and impact resulting from the pandemic, companies are repositioning their brand, offerings and services in the marketplace. Scott interviews Leslie Tullio, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at McDermott Will & Emery on these current challenges and discusses how to build authenticity into branding once again.

To hear Scott’s entire conversation with Leslie Tullio, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at McDermott Will & Emery about “Brand Transformation”, listen or download here:

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